Miserere Nobis
by marleyjsmith
Summary: Three women, burned to death. A killer, searching for someone he once knew. And a woman, who holds the missing peice, if only they can find her. The BAU team heads to Seattle, Washington, to invesitage their latest case. As they fan out, they discover a bizzare connection. The women all represent something-but what? Can the BAU team discover the answer in time to stop him?
1. Agnus Dei

As he stared down at the trembling girl, a thousand memories swirled through his head. Joan's screams as Matthew dragged her down to the basement. Her back afterward, bloody and covered in welts from the belt. Her hand on his arm, rubbing softly as she comforted him after a nightmare. Her tears as the social worker dragged her into the building, never to let her out. But he had found her this time. At last. He was sure of it. The others were mistakes. He was wrong then. But he wasn't now. He knew it. Bending down, he caught the woman's chin. "Joan. Joan, it's okay. It's okay, Joan. You don't have to be afraid. No one's going to hurt you anymore. I promise." He wiped the tears from the woman's eyes. "Ssh. It's okay."

The girl shook her head, pulling away. "I'm not Joan," she whispered.

"What?" His fingers tightened around her arms. "What do you mean, you're not Joan? Of course you are!"

Again she shook her head. "No, I'm not. I'm sorry. Please, just let me go. Please." She tugs on her arm. "I won't say anything. I promise."

"Yes, you are. You just don't remember, maybe. All the drugs they gave you at that hospital." He spoke quickly, his words punctuated with curses. "You are Joan. Let me help you remember."

The girl shook her head. "I'm not."

"Yes, you are. Who are your voices?"

"I'm not!" The girl's voice rose.

"Who were your voices?" His fingers bit into her arms.

"I don't know!" The girl's voice rose to a shriek.

Bending down, he stared at her, peering into her eyes. She was telling the truth. He could see it. She wasn't Joan. He had failed. Again. With a muffled growl, he struck the girl on the back of the head with a rock. Catching her as she fell, he dragged her down the street.


	2. Kyrie Eleison

Near the church, the girl crouched, eying the door. The moment it swung open, she was up, darting inside before the priest noticed. She huddled near the back, trembling, as the hot air washed over her. She rubbed her arms, clinching her teeth to stop them from chattering. The priest pulled the door shut, and she heard the click as he locked it. A soft sigh escaped her. Good. She was safe inside. At last.

No one could hurt her here. She had claimed sanctuary. They couldn't touch her here. She tugged the blanket from her back and spread it out. Next came the sleeping bag, also strapped to her back. She unfolded it and spread it out beside the blanket.

Finally, she pulled the rosary beads from her pocket. Kissing the cross, she knelt on the blanket and clasped her hands. Though her lips moved, no sound came from her as she began to pray the rosary. Soon, her Voices would come to her. They had never really left, though she couldn't always hear them. Now she could. And she would never let anyone take that from her again.


	3. Gloria

"No. You don't understand. The snowman..." Reid trailed off as SSA Hotchner tapped on the glass near Penelope Garcia's window. "Reid. Garcia. We need you in the Round Table." He turned away.

"We'll continue this later." Garcia got to her feet. "I still say the snowman was creepy." Shaking her head, she walked from the room, with Reid tailing her. He took his seat as Penelope stepped up to the front of the room. With the press of a button, the wall lit up, the pictures of three dead women, their bodies horribly burned, flashed across the screen. "Okay, campers, here we go. After this, none of you are ever going to want to eat barbecue again." Garcia flushed at Hotchner's sharp look. "Right, sorry. The woman on the far left is Meribeth James. Her family reported her missing three years ago. Elizabeth Aimes, the woman in the middle, was reported missing four years ago. And finally, we have Lacey Eversten, reported missing four years ago, and found last night."

"We've got three dead women. Why are we just now finding out about this?" Derek Morgan called.

"These women were all homeless," Garcia replied. "When I say they lived off the grid, I mean they lived so far off the grid, they may as well be in outer space. " She shook her head.

"Police in Seattle finally noticed the pattern last night, when they found Elizabeth. They chalked the other two up to freak accidents. Both the women had broken alcohol bottles near them and burnt out cigarette butts near-by,``" said Hotchner.

"Part of his signature," Reid said. "Did they find any of that near the latest one?"

"No, but they did find this." Garcia pressed another button and the image zoomed in, revealing a small, badly charred wooden cross.

Reid wrinkled his nose. "Is that a cross?"

"Yes, and forensics shows the there were crosses placed at the other two scenes as well, but they were almost completely destroyed in the fires. The Seattle PD didn't realize it until they found that last night."

"Excuse me." Hotchner slipped from the room.

"How far apart are the killings?" David Rossi asked.

"The first two were killed about three weeks ago. Elizabeth was killed last night."

"That's odd." Blake spoke up. "Two victims and then three weeks later another one? What was he doing?"

Hotchner stepped back into the room. "Wherever he was, he's back now. Police just found another body. Josephine Lynn, found this morning, burned to death. She'd been reported missing five years ago."

"So all the women are..." Reid frowned, thinking, "Between sixteen and nineteen."

"Yes. And he appears to be escalating. Wheels up in thirty." Hotchner hurried from the room, followed by the rest of the team.


End file.
